


Written on Her Skin

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Canon, F/M, Falling In Love, Feelings, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Romantic Soulmates, Rose is a little insecure, Soulmarks, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, The Doctor has a lot of feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 09:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12009678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: It appeared on her wrist until she was determined to ignore it, until she was curious to know what it said.Written for @doctorroseprompts





	Written on Her Skin

**Author's Note:**

> written for @doctorroseprompts "Canon ‘verse soulmates fic where Rose’s mark is in Gallifreyan"
> 
>  
> 
> (Also, happy birthday to AO3!!!! The party never stops on here)

When Rose brought up Gallifreyan, it wasn’t for the reason the Doctor believed. He thought that maybe it would be because she was interested and curious, which was true.  But that wasn’t the reason she asked. 

She was sitting on the jump seat when she saw him writing a note.  Why the Doctor had sticky notes she had no idea, but it reminded her that if she had a question, she had to ask it while the Doctor was in the moment, or she would never get the answer.  

“I see this all the time,” Rose said as she stood up, reaching out and touching one of the Doctor’s sticky notes on the console.  “What does this say?”

The Doctor sniffed and leaned towards it, squinting.  He stuck up the note that he had been working on before reading the one she touched.

 “This says that we need milk,” he said, pointing at one, “This one literally translates to ‘fix console get tea’ which is… Not terribly eloquent on my part,” he said, grinning at her. “But of course you see it all the time. It’s all over the TARDIS.”

“You leave a lot of sticky notes around.”

“I forget.”

Rose giggled. “You forget,” she nudged his shoulder.  “Talk about how brilliant you are only to forget that we need milk.”  

He grinned and nodded at her. “I know so much, Rose, a few facts here and there are bound to slip out, don’t you think?  

Rose nodded slowly and watched the note carefully.  “Right,” Rose said, feeling as though she was forgetting something.  She didn’t want to tell him what she was really thinking about, unconsciously rubbing her wrist. “Right, of course,” she said, smiling at him, “I’m just going to go to bed.  See you tomorrow?”

He watched her carefully, sensing the shift in her behavior that was terribly uncharacteristic for her. He frowned a little.  “Alright,” he said softly, knowing better than to push her when she got that glassy look in her eyes and clearly didn’t want to talk.   “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

She didn’t look over her shoulder when she retreated back to her room, but she could feel the puzzled stare that was digging into her back.

The Doctor tried to get Rose to tell him what she meant for days after that, but Rose always smiled and waved him off, not wanting to tell him.  She was embarrassed.  There was something in her skin that she couldn’t get rid of.  It had cropped up about three weeks after she met the Doctor.  She covered it with concealer every day, and the TARDIS always hummed angrily at her for doing so.  Rose didn’t understand why this offended the time ship so much, as it was just a scar or something that she couldn’t remember getting.  She looked down at it after her shower that night, the brownish gold circular writing that was on her wrist.  

She ran her thumb over it gently, wishing that she knew what, exactly, it was, but she was too afraid to tell the Doctor about it.  She just didn’t want him to be upset with her.

*********

“I don’t know why you’re so interested in this,” The Doctor said, “My writing.”

“It’s… Just interesting,” she said, looking up from the notes that she had been looking at on the kitchen table.  “Just kind of want to know what it means.”

He sat down next to her and put his arm around the back of her chair so he could look at what she was looking at.  He started explaining the letters to her, but Rose wasn’t following it enough to match it up with the symbols on her wrist.  She nodded when he spoke, but her hope was lost as she knew she’d never be able to remember enough of it to know what her wrist said.  She blew out her cheeks.

“That’s a lot,” she said, “A lot to remember, I mean.”

He smiled. “Yeah.  Learning it in the Academy can be difficult for some Time Lords too,” he said. “I could teach you more, if you wanted.” 

She nodded. “Maybe not tonight though,” she laughed, “My head is starting to hurt a little bit.”

“Right, of course,” he said, removing his arm from her chair.  He watched her for a minute and he said softly, “What’s wrong with your wrist?”

“Nothing,” she said, jerking her hand away from him. She hadn’t realized that she’d been touching it, but she supposed she’d ben touching it unconsciously a lot.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” 

He frowned, “Alright.”  He seemed to know that something was wrong, the way she kept skipping out on him, which was unusual.  It was like something had just suddenly flipped the switch in her and she wanted to be away from him, but also terribly close to him.

*************

Rose was sitting, reading a book in bed, when the Doctor burst into her room.  She squeaked and threw her book down, surprised.  He always knocked before he came in, especially if it was nighttime and he knew she was in bed.

“It’s almost midnight!” Rose shouted, “We’re not going anywhere!”

“I know,” The Doctor said, scuffing his toe on her carpet. “I just wanted to ask you about something.”  He wouldn’t look at her, and she realized that something might be very wrong with the Doctor.  

“What’s wrong?” She asked him.  

“Did I do something wrong?”

She felt her heart twist.  “No, Doctor, you haven’t done anything wrong at all,” she shook her head.  

“But you’re hiding something,” he said firmly, “I know you have something you’ve been covering up.  You look at the Circular Gallifreyan all the time like you’re looking for something. What is it? I want to help you.”

Rose smiled a little. Of course he just wanted to help her.  “I’ve seen that writing before,” she admitted finally, “After I met you.  I didn’t know it was your language.”  She held her hand out. “I tried not to think about it, but recently I just couldn't stop thinking about it.  This showed up on my skin, and I don’t know what it says.”  
The Doctor walked to her and got down on his knees by her bed.  He reached for her hand and pulled it over to him.  He shoved his glasses onto his face and looked at it.  He drew in a gentle breath and ran his fingers over it, his touch fleeting and caressing.  “Oh, Rose,” he said softly.

“What does it say?” She asked him, afraid of asking but knowing she needed to.

He breathed out a shuddering sigh.  “They’re… Okay, well, it’s my name.”

Rose sucked in a breath.  “What?”

“Long ago, before humans even appeared on the Earth, Gallifreyans were matched by soul marks.  You would have the name of the person you were going to marry written on your skin.  When you found each other, you’d be together forever, in a sense.”

“But we’re not-”

“But we’re supposed to be,” he said softly, continuing to touch the mark. “You and I, Rose, this means that we were meant to be together.  But of course, there was no certainty that you were going to come with me and stay, so I guess this would have appeared when you were… Certain.”

She swallowed and nodded. “It knew, then,” she said shakily.

“Knew what, Rose?” He looked up at her for the first time.  She turned her hand over and squeezed his. 

“That I loved you,” She said softly.

He looked up into her eyes and reached up and touched her cheek. “Rose-”

She blinked back tears.  “I didn’t think… I just don’t know what I thought, I just didn’t think that-” she closed her eyes and shook her head against his hand. 

He took her hand and pressed a gentle kiss to the soul mark.  “I’d hoped that if I ever had a soulmate, it would be you,” he said quietly, “Since the moment I met you.”

Rose really burst into tears then, and he popped up to sit on the bed and tugged her into a hug.  He was murmuring into her hair and she gripped him tightly as she cried, feeling all the stress pour out or her.  The two of them clutched at each other for almost an hour before Rose finally settled down. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Rose said.

He smiled softly. ‘I wish you would’ve told me before.  How did you keep it a secret all this time?”

She wiped her eyes and stared down at the mark. “Just some makeup.”

He cupped her cheeks in his hands and leaned forwards to kiss her softly.  She inhaled hard in surprise but pushed her shock away to kiss him back, reveling in the fact that they were now allowed to do this.  When he finally pulled back, he stared at her for what felt like a very long time. 

“No more hiding,” he said softly.

She shook her head. “No more hiding.”

This time, she leaned forward to kiss him, letting the sensation of it wash over her.  She ran her hands into his hair like she had always wanted to and he drew her closer to him, hands at her waist.  

It was easy to forget that it hadn't always been like this, because of course, they were soulmates, and they were  _supposed_ to be like this. Rose supposed that explained why it was so easy to touch him and be close to him, and why happiness swelled in her heart when she looked at him.  

"I love you," he said softly when he pulled away, pressing his forehead to hers.  "I didn't say... But I do.  I love you."

She wished she had known that, but she hadn't, and she felt like nothing could match this feeling. "I love you too," She said softly.  "So much."

He hummed happily and then pulled back from her, looking afraid. "This isn't too fast, is it?  It's too fast."

"No, it isn't," she said, "I've been waiting for ages," she said, "Though I suppose you wouldn't know that."

"So it's not too fast?  Because I can't... If I'm with you, Rose, it has to be forever.  I want you forever."

She was worried that  _he_ would be the one wanting the casual relationship, so she nodded furiously. "Yes.  Forever."

He grinned. “Brilliant! May I stay with you tonight?”  
She laughed. “Well, you’re my soulmate," She said happily, the weight lifted off of her.

He seemed quite chuffed at that, and he stripped down to his pants and t shirt before crawling into bed with her before wrapping his arms around her.  

The two of them talked well into the night, not feeling awkward at all.  It seemed like their relationship was always meant to be this way, as it fell into place so easily.  The Doctor kept leaning forward to press kisses to her lips or forehead while she was talking, making her giggle. 

They fell asleep wrapped tight around one another, the TARDIS humming happily to them.  Rose Tyler would be the anomaly, the first soul mark in so many years.  She belonged with him, and the Doctor was very glad that the universe agreed with him on that. 

**Author's Note:**

> please review?


End file.
